One yr after Elon Musk started an unprecedented attempt to remove swaths of the federal authorities, newly launched deposition movies are offering a never-before-seen have a look at two of the folks accountable for the most important mass termination of federal grants within the Nationwide Endowment for the Humanities’ historical past.
In response to the depositions and different supplies launched as a part of a civil lawsuit associated to the funding cuts, the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) relied on ChatGPT to establish greater than $100 million in grants associated to range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) that had been later cancelled.
When President Donald Trump returned to workplace final January, he empowered Musk to slash federal spending as a lead adviser within the newly created DOGE. Inside days, all businesses had been directed to place DEI workers on depart and associated packages had been shuttered.
Nathan Cavanaugh talks about Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) cuts throughout a deposition on Jan. 23, 2026.
American Council of Realized Societies, the American Historic Affiliation, and the Trendy Language Affiliation.
In prolonged depositions, two DOGE staff — Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh — defended the trouble to chop “ineffective businesses” as a part of DOGE’s try to cut back the federal deficit.
“You do not remorse that individuals may need misplaced essential revenue … to assist their lives?” an lawyer requested Cavanaugh in regards to the grant cancellations.
“No. I believe it was extra essential to cut back the federal deficit from $2 trillion to shut to zero,” Cavanaugh stated.
“Did you cut back the federal deficit?” the lawyer requested.
“No, we did not,” Cavanaugh stated.
With backgrounds in tech and finance, neither man labored in authorities previous to becoming a member of DOGE final yr. Cavanaugh stated they initially decided which grants may very well be reduce based mostly on in the event that they included sure phrases — like “DEI, DEIA, Fairness, Inclusion, BIPAC, LGBTQ” — although the ultimate resolution about cuts was as much as the top of particular person businesses.
“Do you suppose it is inappropriate in any approach that somebody of their 20s with no expertise with grants for the federal authorities was making private judgment calls about what grants to cancel?” an lawyer requested.
“Um, no. I do not suppose it is inappropriate,” Cavanaugh stated, arguing that he didn’t want formal schooling or expertise to make knowledgeable judgments.
“So presumably you learn a few of these books that may have knowledgeable you on easy methods to cancel a grant based mostly on DEI,” the lawyer requested.
“Um, I didn’t learn a ebook, um, on easy methods to discern whether or not a grant contains DEI or not. I learn the precise description of the particular grant,” Cavanaugh stated.
Fox stated they as a substitute turned to OpenAI’s ChatGPT to assist sift by the hundreds of grants awarded by the Nationwide Endowment for the Humanities.
In response to courtroom filings, the boys prompted ChatGPT by asking, “From the angle of somebody seeking to establish DEI grants, does this contain DEI? Reply factually in lower than 120 characters.· Start with ‘Sure.’ o. ‘No.’ adopted by a quick clarification.· Don’t use ‘this initiative’ or ‘this description’ in your response.”
Justin Fox discusses federal authorities cuts made by DOGE throughout a Jan. 28, 2026 deposition.
American Council of Realized Societies, the American Historic Affiliation, and the Trendy Language Affiliation.
Fox was repeatedly pressed by attorneys to elucidate sure funding selections, akin to defunding a language middle — described as a “wasteful, noncritical spend” — or tasks associated to Black historical past and civil rights.
“Why is a documentary about Holocaust survivors DEI?” an lawyer requested.
“It is a gender-based story that is inherently discriminatory to deal with this particular group,” Fox stated.
In response to the depositions and authorized paperwork, the boys didn’t present a transparent definition for DEI or take extra steps to make sure the choices weren’t discriminatory — arguing it was not needed as a result of AI software program was not the ultimate decision-maker.
“Did you do something to make sure that ChatGPT’s notion of DEI as utilized right here would not discriminate on the idea of intercourse?” an lawyer requested, prompting one other objection.
“It did not matter,” Fox stated.
DOGE’s efforts in a number of federal businesses and departments final yr confronted opposition and lawsuits, with critics elevating issues in regards to the group’s effectiveness and its entry to delicate information.
Each Fox and Cavanaugh defended the funding selections, arguing the cuts had been needed to cut back the deficit, although they by no means achieved their objectives.
“Did you ever discover it problematic that you just had been, alongside Nate, short-listing for termination tasks that had hits on phrases like Black, gay, LGBTQ+?” an lawyer requested, prompting an objection and observe up query.
“We had been figuring out wasteful spend within the authorities based mostly on administration route. That was the entire purpose we had been there, was to seek out financial savings,” Fox stated, although he acknowledged the deficit was by no means lowered.
Their work chopping grants from the Nationwide Endowment for the Humanities was memorialized in a social media submit by DOGE, which vowed that any future grants could be “merit-based and awarded to non-DEI, pro-America causes.”
In response to the depositions, a number of the saved funds had been spent on the Nationwide Backyard of American Heroes — a sculpture backyard to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
